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Sunday, October 26, 2014

Skirt to Dress refashion and Dilemma!

Hi :) I refashioned this huge skirt, which had been handmade by the look of it from beautiful green fabric but evidently for someone VERY tall or to be worn with VERY high heels. This is me trying it out for length as a dress:

It totally swamped me as a skirt -

I used an existing dress as a pattern to make this:

In retrospect i think an empire line or lower-waisted dress would have been better for this fabric as it looks nicer smooth than gathered, but on balance i was please with how it turned out. However the straps, which i'd made from some of the scrunchy green lining fabric, were not stretchy and so tended to fall off my shoulders. So i added a clasp from an old necklace to remedy the situation:

This holds up the straps well and adds an extra bit of detail to the back of the dress which i enjoy. You might notice i have been doing a LOT of shirred back things recently! I love how it allows me to create a fitted garment without needing someone around to repeatedly pin something on me or having to buy a dress model!

BUT. I am still not wearing this dress, and several times i have passed over it for something else. I thin the problem might be the lining, which i went to great pains to include in the dress as i wanted it showing out from the bottom of the skirt part. But now i'm not convinced, it hangs oddly and i don't love it.

Here is a picture with the lining tucked up out of the way, this is how it would look with the lining removed -

What do you think? Should i remove the lining or keep it? What else could i try to help rescue this dress? Help! Any advice or suggestions gratefully received :)

5 comments:

Very nice, & it fits your trim figure perfectly! I would remove the lining, because you're right, it does hang funny. Also, I would attach the backs of the straps a little closer to the center. Because the jewelry won't be holding the straps up, it'll shine as an accessory, instead of as an afterthought.

It did turn out cute. Hmmmm, If you cut off the bottom part of the lining and then sew it to the hem... making it the same width as the bottom of the dress it would look cute. That way you get the sheerness of the lining as an added detail. Also, you could shorten the straps (if you wanted too) and add some elastic inside to tighten them up. The color is great on you.